The top reported proficiency rate is 31% in Math. The lowest is 21% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Taft Primary School
Taft Primary School is a regular public school serving kindergarten through third grade in Kankakee, Illinois, enrolling about three hundred students. The school sits in a mid-sized city about fifty miles south of Chicago with a working blend of healthcare, manufacturing, and education sectors. The community includes a historic downtown with civic anchors such as the county courthouse and public library, parks and river-corridor recreation, and mixed-income residential neighborhoods of older single-family housing.
The school's student composition is predominantly Black, with Latino, white, and multiracial students making up the remainder of enrollment. The enrollment is uneven by grade: kindergarten is substantially larger than first grade, and second and third grades are notably smaller, which may reflect demographic shifts or prior boundary changes in the district.
On state testing, Taft's third-grade results show pronounced challenges. In mathematics, third-grade proficiency sits well below the county median for schools with tested grades. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency is even lower. All third-grade students participated in the state assessment. The absence of reported results for grades four through six reflects the fact that the school does not serve those grades; Taft is a primary school and does not test beyond grade three. When proficiency results from the single tested grade are averaged, Taft's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among Kankakee County schools, a significant gap relative to the county's midpoint.
The school's district, Kankakee School District 111, is pursuing several shifts worth noting for families. The district commissioned a full curriculum and instructional audit in 2025 and is developing a new strategic plan for 2026 onward, signaling that what and how students are taught may change. The district has also raised property tax levies in consecutive years, which affects housing costs in the area. For high school, the district recently eliminated uniforms and tightened credit requirements for commencement participation, though these do not apply to primary grades.
A parent may want to look into the curriculum audit and strategic plan directly with the school and district to understand what instructional changes are anticipated and how those will support early literacy and numeracy.
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